Atlantic Coast impacts of changing the climate

This National Park Service document spells it all out. It’s a depressing read, but for folks who value special places, like Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and neighboring Assateague National Seashore, would do well to read it.

U.S. escapes major hurricanes fifth straight year

As the great, omnipotent car culture continues to spin and pollute, how much longer can this record be sustained? A great question to ask as yet another forest of carbon dioxide-hungry trees is cleared just miles from where I sit.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/weather/us–hurricane-season-ends-20101130,0,5326881.story

Va. submits its Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan

Nice start, Virginia, but nothing will work throughout the six-state watershed (that includes much of Pennsylvania) without drastic changes in how every property owner lives. The guy across the street from where I sit routinely spills his lawn fertilizer into the gutter. Repeat that sordid pollution tale a hundred thousand times and what’s the result?

Read about Virginia’s plan here.

Quote of the week

This is a pre-election excerpt from an article in the New Mexican paper of Santa Fe. But still pretty telling of where things are headed.

“Your job, your house, your small business? Clean air, water, the natural world? Forget about it if you vote Republican this time around.”

— Adair Ferdon, Taos

Navy’s top oceanographer to discuss climate change

The admiral is right: There are national security implications, big ones. Read about the upcoming discussion in the big military city of Norfolk right here, and again in this article.

Vermont, New York and EPA to sign Lake Champlain plan

Maybe this new bid will make a real difference. Only a year’s worth of weather will tell the story. Still, though, a major cleanup plan for the treasured lake would also include strict prohibitions, within the lake’s watershed, of land-clearing development, particularly new roads and highways and sprawling subdivisions and their fertilizer-happy lawns and the like.

Read about the new plan.

Bible protects against global warming? Energy chair hopeful tells us so

No comment, as the perp would tell waiting reporters, some armed with cameras, others with notepads.

Get real. Read about the whole thing right here.

Sarah Palin vs. the real world

Hah.

ANCHORAGE — All eyes are on Alaska this month as “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” debuts to high ratings on TLC. Viewers were wowed by breathtaking images of the arctic wonderland, but behind the scenery, there’s a darker reality facing the Last Frontier.

National Geographic’s December issue, which is now available online, delves into the brewing controversy surrounding a potential mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, and has sparked international concern over what might happen if one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines is developed in the home of North America’s leading king salmon populations.

The magazine’s feature, “Alaska’s Choice: Salmon or Gold,” hits newsstands on November 30. The 25-page article, written by Edwin Dobb and photographed by Michael Melford, takes readers on a journey across Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most biologically productive habitats, where Native Alaskans have lived off the land for centuries. Bristol Bay also happens to be the same spot where foreign mining companies want to build one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines, a controversial project called Pebble Mine.

Trout Unlimited, an international non-profit dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and habitats for trout, salmon and other aquatic species, is working with a unprecedented coalition to protect Bristol Bay from the dangers of mining. This diverse effort brings together Native Alaskans, the commercial fishing industry, the sports fishing industry and tourism-related businesses.

“This mine could mean the devastation of a 40,000-square-mile wetland – about the same size as Kentucky – and put at risk the world’s largest sockeye run, as well as the thousands of jobs associated with this $450 million-a-year fishery,” said Tim Bristol, Director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program. “We’re not against mining; there are appropriate places in Alaska for mineral development. But the size, type and location of Pebble Mine pose too high a risk to be allowed to proceed.”

National Geographic’s more than 6.6 million worldwide readers can now see the global importance of this area for themselves. Photographer Michael Melford also has an online slideshow at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/bristol-bay/dobb-text and spoke to Trout Unlimited about his experience.

“Bristol Bay is truly wild; it’s a rare gem where fish, wildlife and Native culture go hand-in-hand,” Melford told Trout Unlimited. “It’s difficult to believe this pristine wilderness might be compromised with an open-pit mine. The time I spent in Alaska was special and unforgettable, and I hope Bristol Bay, its fishery and habitat, continues to thrive for generations to come.”

“Sarah Palin’s Alaska” is airing a show specifically on Bristol Bay on Sunday, Nov. 28. Her husband, Todd, is an avid Bristol Bay fisherman, and they named their daughter after the Alaskan fishing region.

Everett Thompson, a Bristol Bay fisherman quoted in the National Geographic article, said he hopes all the recent focus on Alaska encourages more people to understand the importance of the Alaskan fishing industry, and of Bristol Bay.

“There’s nowhere on Earth like this place,” Thompson said. “This is how we live our lives, fishing and living off the land. Pebble Mine could change everything.”

To find out more about Trout Unlimited’s efforts, see www.SaveBristolBay.org For more information, contact:

Lesley Rogers, (206) 334-1483 or lesleyr@strategies360.com David Shurtleff, (907) 230-2368 or DavidS@strategies360.com

Genetically engineered salmon: FDA says it’s OK, but consumers say ‘no way’

No way is right. It’s just too bad that the media have turned “people” into “consumers.” I wonder what the Associated Press Stylebook says? (I already know the answer).

Read about test-tubed salmon vs. the real McCoy in this article.

Polar bear gets ‘critical habitat’ designation

But this federal government action won’t stop, or even diminish, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Only we have that power. Will we walk more, or just keep driving along in our gasoline-fed cars?

http://azstarnet.com/news/national/govt-and-politics_/article_58ba15b8-9ebb-5f85-a8e7-2c4a39be521e.html